Monthly Archives: October 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on October 23, 2015
Tags: Discipline,   

Disciplined Thinking — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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October 23, 2015

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:7-11

“You’ve got to admit, some of our hearts are trashed out. Let any riffraff knock on the door, and we throw it open. Anger shows up, and we let him in. Revenge needs a place to stay, so we have him pull up a chair. Pity wants to have a party, so we show him the kitchen. Lust rings the bell, and we change the sheets on the bed. Don’t we know how to say no? Many don’t. For most of us, thought management is, well, unthought of. We think much about time management, weight management, personnel management, even scalp management. But what about thought management? Shouldn’t we be as concerned about managing our thoughts as we are managing anything else? Jesus was. Like a trained soldier at the gate of a city, he stood watch over his mind. He stubbornly guarded the gateway of his heart. . . . If he did, shouldn’t we?” (Devotionals Daily: A Year With Jesus, From Grace for the Moment: Morning and Evening Edition by Max Lucado)

Discipline. Does anyone like discipline? When I was a child, I lived in fear of being disciplined. Just the fear of discipline often kept me from doing things I thought would be fun, but I knew would get me into trouble. But I have to admit that I was not like most other children. Today there are so many young people who openly mock authority. And not just the children but their parents as well. If the thought enters their minds to do something, they are going to find a way to do it, and there will be no one to tell them otherwise. I was watching the television the other day where I watched a story about a family that disciplined themselves to go one year without spending money on unnecessary things. They spent money on food and hygiene, and medical care, but nothing else. The amount of money they saved that year was extraordinary, and you can read about it in a book titled The Year Without a Purchase. They learned that they could discipline themselves from spending money on “extras” – but it was not easy. In fact it required a lot of change, especially changing their priorities, and changing their thoughts.

Many professional athletes have to spend a lot of time working on managing their thoughts. It is true that if we think something, think we are a failure, think that we will make a mistake, or think that we are not good enough, we often manifest our thoughts into reality. The same is true in the sports world. If an athlete thinks they are going to fail, if they think they will miss a putt, strike out, drop a pass, miss a shot, fall off the balance beam, then they have a much greater probability of failing.

Remember Jesus thinks every person is so great, so great that he went to the cross for all of us. When this becomes our predominant thought, then we will not only feel blessed, but we will be a blessing.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on October 22, 2015
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Models of Discipleship — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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October 22, 2015

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” I Peter 3:3-4 NIV

“Voluptuous blonde actresses and famous well-built athletes: What do they have in common besides million dollar salaries? One common denominator I observe is the illusion of perfection, modeled by their outward appearance. This philosophic thought came to me at the post office. Long lines of impatient customers and rows of tiny post boxes do not usually produce an atmosphere of contemplation. But today I gazed at the stamp designs, enlarged and framed. The splashy illustrations showed perfectly formed bodies. The drawings ignored inborn flaws of ordinary people. As I inched forward to mail my package, I pondered the committee’s choice of stamp heroes. Did a special stamp commission or maybe a government bigwig vote from a list of persons whom they emulated and revered? Let me describe a person they should have chosen. She is not a glamorous blonde, but has been a beautiful redhead for her 47 years. Or, she did have red hair, before radiation and chemotherapy. She has had brain surgery and a bone plate removed from her skull. She now sports a large hollow spot, her scalp sinking in a four-inch wide circle on the side of her nearly bald head. A large U-shaped scar surrounds that indentation.

This description doesn’t match the images on those postage stamp portraits. But I am certain my sister is more beautiful than any Hollywood legend. She is better qualified to be honored on a stamp than any big-name athlete. My sister Marilyn has inner beauty that a scalpel cannot mutilate. Radiation may destroy her hair follicles but they cannot destroy her soul. She models her life as a Christ-follower and has her eyes fixed on a crown. She gives glory to God in all her circumstances. Her earthly tent may be stricken with brain cancer, but the core of her being has not changed. In the face of terminal illness she has strong faith—even on the hard days. In spite of physical misery, she remains motivated to help others. She’s wheelchair bound, so she phones: Ordering gift books, giving words of encouragement; words of witness that everyone can be made whole and forgiven through Jesus Christ.” (Kathleen Grimm Welty, CBN website)

We often look for models of “something” — a person or a picture that models what it is we are selling, or proclaiming. For example, Jesus one day was talking to his disciples, trying to teach them what discipleship in the “Kingdom of G*d” looked like. His disciples had just finished arguing amongst themselves about who was greater than whom, and Jesus was desperately trying to teach them about his own suffering, death and resurrection. So, Jesus took a child and placed the child in among them and said “Anyone who welcomes this child welcomes me.” Or in other words, the child was Jesus’ model for discipleship — someone who has the purity, the innocence, the willingness and the openness to join in with his mission. This was Jesus’ model, but it didn’t fit the disciples’ model for discipleship. They wanted to be “rulers”, “leaders”, “kings” along with the power and prestige that would come with it — Jesus was trying to tell them they had the wrong model in mind.

The church and the world are filled with people who want to be first, who want to be leaders, who want to be held in great esteem, who seek glory and power. Jesus says that unless we strip away these “models” of greatness in our hearts, minds, and churches, our striving to be first will only lead us to last place.

Pastor Dave